Joe Rogan: Burn the Boats

Being a listener of his podcast I refused to believe he was still capable of writing and performing comedy. He's a completely and utterly humorless person whose entire concept of comedy is based on screaming, whenever a guest makes a joke in a normal tone of voice it goes over his head and he thinks they're being serious.

He has no understanding of sarcasm, irony, or absurdism except for probably the mental images of men wearing dresses that come from the all-caps Facebook memes he relies on for his source of science, news, and information.

I believed there was no way he was capable of writing and performing anything even remotely funny, therefore other people must have been writing his material for him. Turns out I was half right.

Joe Rogan was on a show once. He was ok.

Joe Rogan also hosted the show that thought beer and women jumping on trampolines was comedy. It isn't.

When that gig failed, he took over the hosting duties on a show that challenged contestants to eat maggots and donkey semen. Gold.

So I'm not sure what I expected from this "special" (it's special all right; just not the way he wanted it).

It's his podcast. But stay with me. The hook is: HE SHOUTS EVERYTHING.

I guess he watched a lot of Sam Kinison while he was writing this material (another comedian that's almost unwatchable today-he'd be labeled a hack).

This is dreck. Plain and simple. How addicted to right wing conspiracy theories does one have to be to pay for a show that's unfunny and is just regurgitated opinions from the podcast which is free?

The audience doesn't even laugh. And Joe just keeps getting louder and sweatier.

Also, who's your stylist, Joe? Adam Sandler?

I feel like Joe Rogan doesn't actually do stand up, he just yells at the top of his lungs about all the subjects he discusses on his podcasts and makes funny faces and noises in a "daddish" sort of way to add humor when he's really not doing or saying anything that funny. I'm actually a fan of Joe but his last 3 stand up specials have been very... mediocre to say the least. I feel like he has sooo many fans across so many different platforms that his audiences give him a false sense of what's actually funny by laughing at everything he says because he's Joe Rogan and people want to laugh and have a good time with him, which is ok... just isn't good comedy in my opinion. Still a few chuckles here and there. 5/10.

I've enjoyed past Rogan specials, as well as seeing him live at Massey Hall and other venues in Toronto. You expect a certain amount of meathead nonsense and conspiracy talk which may or may not be genuine. But the thing I've always found grating has now become a constant in this show: yelling everything as though he doesn't have a microphone. I know that's how the show is going to start, along with the cheap pandering to San Antonio but it just never lets up and it becomes draining. And the ratio of actual laughs to applause breaks - excluding the times he solicits it by referencing his move to Texas, Fear Factor, the podcast, is not going in the right direction.

I realize that not giving a glowing review if this will result in the usual nonsense of having labels hurled but I'm not even American, so save it.

There are some funny bits but overall, it's just a lot of energy to try and sell the bits as being funnier than they are.

The show is a blend of him yelling and making different faces, combined with some "alt" subjects. I expected more since his previous material was okay. The performance relies heavily on exaggerated expressions and loud delivery, which can be entertaining at times but feels repetitive. The "alt" topics seem to lack depth and don't always land well with the audience. Overall, it felt like the show was missing the sharp wit and clever insights that characterized his earlier work. I hope he refines his approach and makes his next shows a bit sharper and more engaging.

Lets hope for better content in his future shows.